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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

1. Viewfinder: The Canon EOS 5D Mark II offers a 98%-coverage, eye-level pentaprism viewfinder with 0.71x magnification and a built-in -3.0 to +1.0 diopter for photographers with eyeglasses.
2. Command Dial: The dial now includes three Custom (C) settings for assigning adjustable preset parameters and a new Creative Automatic (CA) mode for preset scene capture. 3. Ergonomics: Despite the larger LCD screen, the body itself hasn’t evolved a lot from the 5D. The 5D Mark II maintains the familiar ergonomic button layout of the 5D, but Canon also has added improved weather resistance and improved sealing to the already dependable construction of the 5D. There’s also a redesigned shutter with 150,000-cycle durability.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: List Price: $2,699 (body only)

With the same resolution as the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III at less than half the price, the full-frame EOS 5D Mark II isn’t Canon’s flagship model, but it may as well be. Featuring a few important new items, like HD video capture and a high-resolution, 21.1-megapixel sensor, the 5D Mark II also offers a variety of improvements over its predecessor, the 5D.

LOTS OF GLASS: The 5D Mark II is compatible with all of the lenses in Canon’s EF series, currently including more than 50 available models.

DUST REDUCTION: An Integrated Cleaning System has been designed specifically for the full-frame sensor to reduce dust. Any debris that does end up on the sensor can be removed from images automatically via the Dust Delete Data function.

SHARP FOCUS: The AF system includes the same 9-point autofocus sensor as the 5D. There are also six additional “assist” focus points that can be activated in AI Servo AF.

CORRECTED VIGNETTING: Peripheral Illumination Correction provides evenly illuminated images from corner to corner, with automatic correction for many of Canon’s popular lenses. Correction also can be added manually through the included Canon EOS Utility software, and the camera can store info for up to 40 lenses.

The 5D Mark II has inherited a full-frame CMOS sensor from the 1Ds Mark III. The 1Ds Mark III is designed for professionals, and because of that, professional-level image quality is what you get in the 5D Mark II. The full-frame sensor offers bigger, better resolution at 5616 x 3744 pixels.

The biggest recent advancement in D-SLR technology has been the addition of video capability. The 5D Mark II offers full HD 1080p resolution video capture at a frame rate of 30 fps in up to 12-minute clips. Sound can be recorded via the internal microphone or through an input terminal for an external mic. Thanks to a recent firmware update, the 5D Mark II now offers manual video exposure control in its video mode, too. An HDMI output is also included for connection and playback on HDTVs.

Live View plays an instrumental role in video capture for the system, and the 5D Mark II sports a large, high-resolution, 3.0-inch LCD screen with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings for image and video playback. (The 5D’s screen was only 2.5 inches and had much lower resolution.) You can zoom in at 5x or 10x for review when in Live View, and Live View focusing modes for stills include a Quick mode, Live mode and Face Detection Live mode for automatically focusing on faces in a scene. All Live View AF features except Quick mode AF can be used while shooting video.

Internally, the 5D Mark II includes four levels of high ISO noise reduction, advantageous since the ISO range of the 5D Mark II has been extended from 50-3200 in the 5D (in expanded modes) to 50-25,600 (in expanded modes), the highest to date in Canon’s EOS cameras. The latest DIGIC 4 processor from Canon provides a bump in speed from 3 fps with the 5D to 3.9 fps in the 5D Mark II. Color depth also has been improved—the 5D offered 12-bit A/D conversion, while the 5D Mark II is 14-bit.

STANDOUT FEATURE: High-definition 1080p video capture—most other video-capable D-SLRs only offer video resolution in 720 HD.
VERDICT: HD video and a boost in resolution from 12.8 megapixels to the 5D Mark II’s 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor make this a worthy successor to the excellent 5D.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon’s EOS 7D introduces a new class of video-capable D-SLR to the classic EOS line. The APS-C-sized CMOS sensor works interactively with dual DIGIC 4 image processors for an impressive 8 fps image capture at full-resolution, 18-megapixel files. The 7D can capture video with manual control over exposure, focus and frame rate. An Intelligent Viewfinder is built in with a 100% field of view, plus there’s an overlaid LCD display for viewing customizable metering and focus options. A 3.0-inch, 920K-dot LCD monitor is included, and the 7D has a newly designed 19-point cross-type AF system. List Price: $1,699.

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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: List Price: $2,699 (body only)

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